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The New York Yankees began their 2025 season well before opening day.
The team watched as superstar outfielder Juan Soto defected for a record-breaking contract from the New York Mets in December 2024, then it embarked on a torrid offseason to reshape its own roster.
That offseason resulted in a new-look Yankees team that has seized first place in the American League East division with significant contributions from newcomers like Paul Goldschmidt and Max Fried. But one blockbuster trade addition has not performed as hoped.
Since arriving on the Yankees in a surprising trade with the Chicago Cubs, Cody Bellinger has slashed just .177/.236/.291 with a pair of homers and 21 strikeouts in his first 79 at-bats. That level of production is well below his own standard.
“I definitely need to be better,” Bellinger said of his start, according to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.
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Bellinger has batted third in each of the Yankees’ four games and he hasn’t hit lower than fourth, but his struggles might now call for a move down the order. When asked about that possibility, manager Aaron Boone didn’t rule it out, offering two words that hinted at a change.
“We’ll see,” he said, per Kuty. “I’ll consider everything… Still expecting him to end up hitting somewhere in the middle of the lineup. But yeah. You can always tinker with things as you move forward, depending on what you’ve got that day.”
Bellinger has had some up-and-down seasons in his career, but after signing a three-year, $80 million deal with the Cubs in 2024, he’s earning $27.5 million from the Yankees this year and should be more productive. He slashed just .266/.325/.426 in 2024, but posted a .307/.356/.525 slash line as he earned National League Comeback Player of the Year honors for the Cubs in 2023.
In 2019, he won a Most Valuable Player Award with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a .305/.406/.629 campaign.
With one of the best batting orders in baseball, the Yankees won’t need Bellinger to post MVP numbers. But he should be better than he’s shown so far.
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Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.
With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.
English (US)